


Fear

by perrythedeer



Category: Milo Murphy's Law
Genre: Character Study, Hospitals, Major Character Injury, Murphy's Law, Near Death Experiences, Surgery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22581037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perrythedeer/pseuds/perrythedeer
Summary: Listen.. Zack isn't used to seeing Milo in life-threatening situations yet.
Relationships: HINTED but shh, Milo Murphy/Zack Underwood
Comments: 8
Kudos: 104





	1. Chapter 1

"Is he awake yet?" Zack was following Melissa as she led him down the hall, and the girl sighed. "Zack, he won't be waking up for another day or two, they still have to do the other surgeries yknow." Zack made a little whine at that, he still hated the mentions of them, he'd heard too many stories from his mom about the surgeries failing, leaving people crippled or worse. 

"He'll be fine, Zack, a little 'getting almost cut in half by a wind turbine' is nothing for him." Melissa glanced back at Zack, and he could see the worry in her eyes, even if she didn't want it to show. Zack decided that- it'd be best to help her with that. Besides, Milo wouldn't want them worrying themselves stupid over him. He put on a shaky smile and nodded "...Yeah, i guess you're right."

Seeing Milo in the hospital bed never really got any better, especially when he was unconscious. His head tipped to the side, his arms laying on the blanket- that Zack could've sworn had a bloodstain on it, but the Murphy suite didn't have time to get cleaned normally- so.. probably from something else.. The beeping of the heart monitor being the only thing that told him that his best friend was alive- besides the shaky breaths that slipped from Milos lips every once in awhile.

"...what if he dies this time?" Zack can't stop the question, and he sees Melissa wince in the corner of his eyes, but she steels herself with a shrug, not looking at him. "He won't." "Melissa he almost-" " _He won't._ " 

It sounded more like she was convincing herself. It made Zack think. How many times had Melissa been in here, waiting for her friend to wake up, listening to the heart monitor, wondering if it was over, if this was it, wondering if she'd ever hear Milos laugh or voice again, wondering if the last thing she'd ever hear from him was a pained and horrified _scream._

Zack turned and left the room, going to lean on the wall in the hallway instead, trying to steady his breathing. It was still replaying in his mind, Milo normally was able to deflect things or get out of the way fast enough, it hit his side and back mostly, he'd screamed out, and immediately was begging Melissa to run and get help. Zack had been left alone, watching Milo bleed and slowly lose consciousness, he couldn't think of anything to say, couldn't think of any ways to help...

"Are you alright?" Melissa had come out now, and Zack jumped a little, looking at her and giving a shaky grin and thumbs up "Yea- yea just. Claustravoidant, yknow?" he laughed, and Melissa frowned, he knew she saw through him, but, she was kind enough not to ask, just leaning against him and wrapping her arms around him.

-

The surgery had happened, and Melissa and Zack had found themselves resting in the waiting room for it to finish, Melissa had fallen asleep a while back, but Zack stayed awake, just going over all the possibilities in his head. It had to be okay, Milo would be fine, he had to convince himself of that while he sat there and waited for hours. Horrible, grating _hours_ that made him feel like he was going to explode.

His nails dug into his pant legs after a while, and he'd squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to think of the worst outcome, of Milo not surviving the surgery, the sickening sound of one single beep ringing through the room, the look that would be on his moms face. He felt like he was gonna throw up, he didn't want the last thing he saw of Milo to be him laying in a hospital bed like that.

Zack took his phone out after a minute, opening him and Milos texts and reading through them. It helped him ground a little more, Milo was still alive back there, even if he couldn't see him. It'd be fine. It always was, Melissa swore it up and down- and he had to trust her here.

When his mom showed up, Zack was standing up faster than he could think, nearly knocking Melissa on the ground in the process. She sat up and gave an annoyed noise, getting to her feet and stretching slightly. "Is he alright?" she spoke faster than Zack could even formulate a sentence, and the moment Zacks mom was smiling, he was ready to run down the hall.

"He'll be fine, just like normal, will probably be awake tomorrow. You can see him in an hour or two." Zack nodded quickly, and went to sit back down, tapping his foot against the ground and going back to looking through texts. 

It passed too slowly, Zack could feel Melissa getting jittery next to him, even if she'd had to wait this before, it had to get stressful. She was messing around with a phone game, periodically checking her clock. 

_Much_ too long later, Zack barely acknowledged his mom turning the corner before bolting past her.

Zack stayed there for a while, long past when Melissa left to actually work on stuff, and he'd just stayed in the hall when Milos family eventually came to check on him. It bothered him a little, the way they _cared_ but didn't... show it that much. He just had to tell himself that they were used to it, he knew that was all it was. It's not like they didn't care about Milo, he was the only one not used to seeing Milo close to death like that.

When they left, it was starting to get dark. Zack kept using his mom still being at work as an excuse to stay. It's not like anybody would say otherwise, and his mom would let him stay- probably. As far as he knew, she didn't know he was still here. He slipped back into the room Milo was in, and sat in one of the chairs near the bed, examining his friend. 

He looked a little better, of course he did. Zack didn't know what he was expecting, or why he'd been so scared. Zack sighed a little and moved to put his hand over Milos. "You're lucky. Anyone else would've been torn apart by that. For being cursed with bad luck, you're one heck of a lucky kid, Milo." he sighed after a moment, glancing around. nobody was around to hear him talking.

He moved so he could put his head down on the bed, squeezing his friends hand. "I don't know what i'd do without you. Like I said before, i'd probably be lost. 'Specially in this town, it's crazy here, and without you guiding me and helping me out it'd be hell." Zack just kept quietly talking, listening to the steady beeping from the heart monitor.

"You're my best friend, Murphy, so- you're not allowed to get killed, that's the rule, as long as i'm around you- you have to be too." he knows Milo can't hear him, but it's comforting to talk like this, keeps Zack calmer so he doesn't freak out at the idea of Milo dying.

"I love you, Milo. I hope you're sleeping well... i promise you i'll be here when you wake up." He sighed a little, squeezing his friends hand again and letting his eyes close.

His mom walked in to find Zack still laying there, holding Milos hand and fast asleep. She sighed a little and went through the checklist, careful not to bother either of the boys as she made sure Milo was still stable, and she ruffled her sons hair. It wasn't really _surprising_ to find Zack here. She knew very well how much Milo meant to her son.


	2. He's fine.

It took a while, probably a good few hours before Milo even stirred, Zack was still asleep, coming down from the stress of thinking your best friend was going to die was exhausting. Milo woke to find Zack still laying there, holding his hand tightly, and Melissa leaning against the wall, watching the two of them with a sense of protectiveness in her expression

"Hey Milo." Milo glanced up at her, smiling as much as he could with the quiet sense of pain still going through him. They learnt a while back that pain medication didn't really work on him. "Hi Melissa!- Do you know what happened?" He cocked his head to the side, and Melissa just softly sighed, a relieved smile showing after a moment.

"Murphy's Law, wind turbine blade. You had a few surgeries, but Mrs. Underwood said you should be good in a week or two." Milo nodded slowly, and carefully moved the blanket to look at his side. It felt weird, and looked kinda gross- but still. That'd be a new scar, and he chuckles to himself. "How ya doing?" 

Melissa finally walked over to him, lightly placing her hand on his cheek to direct his face towards her. She wanted to make sure he was alright- emotionally more than anything. She could see the fear still in his eyes, despite his stupidly wide smile. "This is another time where I could've died, right?" he leaned towards the touch, a hand going up to lightly grab her wrist.

She nodded, moving her hand so she was holding onto his. "Yea. Zack was worried sick about you." she laughed lightly, letting go of his hand so she could move around the bed and sit on his other side, holding it again. "Why? He's seen me handle worse!" 

Melissa rose an eyebrow. "Milo, he's never seen you almost die." "Seriously? We've known eachother like a year!" Melissa snorted, and leaned back, shrugging "You've been pretty lucky this year, all considering." 

Milo frowned a little, thinking about it... yeah, that was true, besides the pistachion things, nothing that bad happened. He squeezed both his friends hands quietly, an upset expression crossing his face. Melissa just frowned and sighed, Milo didn't want to talk, she could see that much, so she'd let him sit. 

"How long has he been here?" the question came around fifteen minutes later, and Melissa just blinked in confusion, trying to process it. Oh, Zack? Right. "Uh- the whole time? I came in to find him asleep here, so that's what i'd suspect."

Milo nodded a little, and moved his hand out of Zacks grip, instead just placing it on his head and running it through his hair. "He shouldn't worry so much." He said after a moment, voice quiet, and Melissa just smiled, a little laugh slipping from her. "He's got anxiety, it's in his brain wiring to worry sick about everything." "Still..." "Milo, he loves you, he's gonna worry his ass off about you every time something happens, get used to it."

"...I know"


End file.
